


Instinct

by bubblewrapstargirl



Category: Peaky Blinders (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Gang Behavior, Canon-Typical Violence, Character opinions do not necessarily reflect Author's own views, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Finn Shelby is a Gift, John Shelby's Canon Children, Light Angst, Period Typical Attitudes, Rating May Change, Secret Relationship, Uncle/Niece Incest, i love all the characters, secret identity shenanigans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-19 00:47:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20648450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bubblewrapstargirl/pseuds/bubblewrapstargirl
Summary: Katie Shelby comes home, looking to restore her relationship with her estranged kin, after years on the road. Finn Shelby is tired of the bachelor life, and in need of a girl who doesn't just want him for the glamour of being a Peaky Boy's wife. They stumble into a relationship, and have to deal with the consequences.Set in S5, minor spoilers. Finn/OFC is Katie, plus mentions of past canon relationships. Although Katie is a canon character, we know next to nothing about her. Her characterisation and backstory here is a mix of what the show gives us and my own creation.





	Instinct

**Author's Note:**

> “Instinct is a marvellous thing. It can neither be explained nor ignored.”  
― Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, first published in 1920

Finn pressed his hand into his eyes as he stumbled out of the Garrison, wincing at the bright sunlight as he staggered home. Maybe Tommy and Arthur had a point, about getting a good woman who hated the life. Though judging by the way they constantly fought with Lizzie and Linda respectively, Finn privately thought he needed a tough woman able to weild a weapon of her own, one more like Grace or Esme. Tommy and John had been happiest when married to them, Finn thought, since he couldn’t really remember much about John’s first wife, Martha. He wasn’t foolish enough to say any of this to his remaining brothers, however. Grace and John’s deaths were still a raw wound for the family, one still morbidly festering. Lizzie might have been Tommy’s wife on paper, but no one was under the illusion that he truly loved her in the same way. Still, she was a pretty good partner for the hardened man Tommy had become since losing Grace.

As far bad as Finn could remember, Tommy had always been inscrutable, unfathomable, prepared to do anything at all to succeed, but with an underlying warmth. Finn didn’t have half of Tommy’s ambition. He only wanted to be recognised as a Shelby, a real Shelby. To have the chance to earn his own money, enjoy a large slice of cake at the table. But Shelby men weren’t supposed to engage in sport anymore, not now that Tommy was an honest to god MP, talking up the House of Commons with the posh bastards.

Trouble was, Finn had never been taught to be anything but a Peaky Blinder foot solider. How was he supposed to run a football racket, when everyone looked at him sideways and saw only a dumb boy? Confused and tired, Finn staggered home to his flat in Artillery Square, the locals far too superstitious and scared of his family to do anything but move out of his way and offer him subdued smiles. He collapsed on his bed and slept away the morning alone.

*

Katie took a deep breath, stepping gingerly off the train onto the dusty platform, with all she owned in a small leather handbag. She had only a written reference to recommend her to future employers – it was given under duress, due to her cousins threatening the butler of a nice house in Surrey. If a shopkeep or barkeep telephoned, the man would say how wonderful Katie was, or he wouldn’t like the outcome.

Katie wasn’t entirely sure she approved of their methods, but her cousins wouldn’t change regardless of her approval. She was lucky they weren’t traditional enough beat her when they found out she was intending to leave. Katie was very grateful for their help. She knew she needed the reference to get a job, and that her cousins were taking a big risk by helping her to escape the clutches of the Lee clan. Although she loved her family, life on the road did not suit her. Katie remembered adoring the pretty cottage her family had lived in before her father died. Although it had doubtlessly been sold by her uncles, Katie still wished to return to a life in one place, a real home. But a woman alone was not safe, Katie wasn't arrogant enough to deny that. She needed a home in the safety of a city where her family name held weight. Somewhere familiar. So Birmingham was the only real option.

There’d be hell to pay if her parent’s kin discovered she was intending to run away, and Katie had been terrified for weeks that her plan might be discovered by someone else. But no one questioned her, taking her tension for anxiety about a betrothal of her own, now that her older sister was spoken for. In the end, her worries were unfounded, and Katie escaped shortly after Shannon’s wedding without being caught.

Katie nipped her lower lip, and fidgeted with her gloves as she walked slowly through the familiar streets of Birmingham. The smoggy city was grey, coal-stained and bleak, worsened by the pervasive, heavy clouds. But Katie was still Brummie at heart, and despite her years on the road, she wasn’t a stranger in these parts. She refused to be cowed by her nerves. Katie straightened her back and squared her shoulders, marching along the cluttered streets until she came to the slightly smarter shops.

There was a draper shop, advertising need of an assistant. Katie neatened the brim of her dated but cheerful hat, affixed her best smile, and stepped inside. But the snooty lady took one look at Katie’s best dress (hurriedly changed into in the platform ladies’ loo) and sneered. Katie had sewn the mint green dress herself, to wear to Shannon’s wedding, and it was rather lovely. Seething, but unwilling to use her name to gain the job through fear, Katie marched right back out again. She was worth better than that snotty cow’s approval, anyway.

Katie marched along the cobbles confidently, her determination unshaken. She had more luck two streets over, at a cakery that she and her siblings would never have dreamed of entering when she was a little girl.

“What can I getcha, miss?” said the portly baker, crammed behind the neat counter of pretty cakes.

“I’ve come about the job advertised in the window,” said Katie, “Is the position still open?”

The man gave her appraising look. But he did not dismiss her out of hand, despite her slightly tattered coat, and unfashionable purple velvet hat. There was no doubt his wife sewed his clothes also; they were well worn, but fitted his portly measurements perfectly.

“Beggin’ yer pardon, miss, but I was looking for a boy, who can lift sacks of flour, as well as decorate the cakes. Do you have experience in either?”

Katie didn’t, but that did not mean she was without skill, and she asserted so.

“I’m a hard worker, and I’m willing to learn,” she said, handing over her faked reference.

She began to explain how her fabricated position as a nursery maid showed her fortitude and cleanliness. The truth was, Katie had helped her stepmother care for the little ones, and lugging them about had to be just as heavy as cake ingredients. At least flour and sugar did not generally squirm about in your hands, which she pointed out with a charming smile, aimed to disarm.

The baker sighed.

“Seeing as most of the lads round here don’t care a whit for cake, except for the eatin’ part, I don’t see how I’ve much choice. But any funny business, and you’re out, understand?”

Katie nodded. That was reasonable, and Katie was determined to be a reasonable woman.

*

Having ceased shagging Annabelle, the spirited girl Finn had considered proposing to, he was increasingly bored. He had his lunchbreak whores, but that had soured since one nearly blew his fucking head off. Clearly, he needed to cut back on the snow, if he couldn’t even notice a piece strapped on a whore. Less cocaine meant headaches and a constant feeling of frustration. But Finn was determined to do it, lest he end up dead in a ditch over some easily avoided squabble.

After the initial discomfort, Finn found he was actually concentrating better on his work with less snow. And since he’d cut back on the whores, he was sleeping sounder too. He’d expected the opposite; to lie awake in his flat, lonely and bored. But long days directing Billy, their inside man on the football racket (with help from Isaiah of course), coupled with Finn’s new responsibilities on the race track... well it was actually pretty exhausting. Finn managed to actually make his way home most nights, after eating out, as opposed to falling asleep in whatever club or restaurant he had been enjoying playing in until the wee hours.

Finn couldn’t cook, least not anything decent. Having been spoilt on Aunt Polly’s dinners as a boy, Finn had since been stuck with pub fare, or the fancy rich delicacies they could finally afford once the Peaky Blinders took over Birmingham and then London. Without a wife, Finn came home to a cold hearth and an empty kitchen, but most nights he was far too tired to much care.

Yet it would be bloody lovely, to have a pretty face and hearty homemade dinners to come home to, Finn admitted to himself as he curled up under his thickly padded blankets and snuggled into his fluffy pillows.

*

Katie had found semi-respectable lodgings, having traded in a few of her rings and an old pair of earrings Shannon had gifted her at a pawn shop. The earrings had no sentimental or superstitious value; and Katie loved her sister dearly. She didn’t need tokens to remind her of that. The only jewellery she would not part with was her mother’s necklace, a locket that Katie wore about her neck. It would bring her luck, and all Roma knew to take such things seriously.

She started her days bright and early, learning how the cakes were baked, and iced, though she was not yet trusted to do either. Instead, she tended the front of the shop, charming the customers with a bright smile. She gave the false surname of Strong, since that was her paternal grandmother’s name, and therefore only half a lie.

Somehow, Katie had expected to run into her Uncle Arthur or Uncle Tommy, or even Great Aunt Pol, immediately. It was only after a fortnight of work that she realised it had been foolish of her to think so. Had she not heard the whispers of how her family had become well-to-do, no longer soldiers but legitimate businessmen? Of course they no longer tread the streets as often, checking up on their companies. They must have men for that. And why did they need the nice cake shops of Birmingham when the rumours asserted their attendance at Ascot and the other social events of the year with lords and ladies and maybe even the King himself?

If she wanted to meet them, to rekindle the kinship she had lost in the years after her father died, Katie would have to be bold about it. But she did not simply wish to march into the Garrison, or some elegant office, and announce herself like a dog demanding scraps. They were no better than her, and she would not prostrate herself at their feet as though they were high and mighty. Not when she could not be sure of the outcome. Though it was awful to even consider, her uncles had likely profited from her father’s death. Katie wanted to believe the best of them, but her stepmother had little good to say about them. Katie had admittedly seen little of her older uncles, even when her father was alive. They were always too busy with their work. She had spent more time with her siblings, stepmother and aunts and of course, Finn.

With these thoughts still churning in her mind, Katie dutifully continued her work, a quick and attentive student. After a fortnight, having just begin to accept she might not stumble across her family by chance, the cheerful bell of the cakery rang behind her.

“Good mornin', how can I help you?” said Katie, brushing her hands on her apron as she twirled to face the new customer, who she could hear advancing up to the counter, no doubt to survey the scrumptious delights on offer.

Only, when she turned around, it was to find herself faced with the freshly-shaved, handsome face of her youngest uncle. He was towering above her, his warm gaze meeting her startled blue eyes without a flinch. Finn Shelby politely tugged off his razor-infested cap, tucking it with expert ease into his wide coat pocket. He casually offered Katie a flirtatious smile.

“Mornin’ miss,” he said, in a heavier accent than her own, “Three strawberry puffs and a Chelsea bun please.”

The irony of it hit Katie like an open-handed slap to the cheek, red and stinging. Katie fought the urge to gape uncouthly. Finn simply watched her, without the slightest shred of recognition on his open, cheerful face.

**Author's Note:**

> I adore comments! But please no heavy spoilers for S5 please. Not everyone can watch it as soon as it first airs. Please give people a chance to watch it without being assaulted by major spoilers :)


End file.
